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World Jewish News
Palestinians: IDF tanks shell Gaza City high-rise buildings
15.01.2009
IDF tanks fired shells at three high-rise buildings at least in the Tel Hawwa neighborhood of Gaza City Thursday morning, according to Palestinian witnesses.
An UNRWA site was also hit, Army Radio quoted Palestinian sources as saying.
There was no immediate comment by the IDF on the report.
Defense officials said Thursday morning that Hamas operatives had barricaded themselves inside a press office in Gaza, and were using people there as human shields. There were 23 people inside, according to reports.
The IAF strikes occurred as ground troops advanced into a crowded residential area on the outskirts of the city. Thousands of residents were reportedly fleeing their homes. The targeted buildings are about 1.5 kilometers (1 mile) from the ground forces.
The move marked the deepest thrust into the city so far in the twenty days of Operation Cast Lead.
Meanwhile, the IDF was observing a daily "humanitarian corridor" between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., to allow for transfer of humanitarian aid into the Strip, and for Gazans to stock up on necessary supplies.
In a statement released Thursday morning, IDF spokesman Peter Lerner said that a total of 1,136 trucks of humanitarian supplies have been transferred to Gazans since the beginning of the IDF operation in the Strip, as well as fuel trucks and medical personnel, the statement added.
The statement added that the electrical grid in the Gaza Strip was functioning at 74% capacity, up from 40% at the beginning of the operation.
Lerner said the state of the electrical supply was "a direct result of the coordination between the IDF, the Palestinian Energy Authority and the International Committee of the Red Cross."
In previous days, Hamas attacks on the South have continued during these pauses in operations.
While the number of rockets fired has dropped dramatically in recent day, at least 17 rockets were fired at the western Negev on Thursday morning.
Overnight Wednesday, Israeli aircraft struck some 70 targets, including weapons positions, rocket squads and a mosque in southern Gaza that it said served as a rockets arsenal, according to the IDF. Palestinian medical officials said seven people were killed in the strikes. Four of those killed were in the southern strip and three in Gaza City, according to Army Radio.
Meanwhile, eleven IDF soldiers were wounded overnight Wednesday in clashes with Hamas gunmen as fighting escalated in the Strip.
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